A Fresh Start
by needingfreedom
Summary: This wasn't supposed to happen. The plane was supposed to fly to the States, and I was going to start my new life. Now I'm on this island with complete strangers. I know I can survive, but none of them think the same. They look at me and see a girl who needs saving. But my chance for saving died with the plane crash.


**So this is like a pilot. If people like it, even just a few people, I'll continue. So leave a review and let me know what you think.**

_**Nicole is a character I based upon myself. Her history isn't mine, but just about everything else will be, or close. I want to see how I'd fair in the Lost world.**_

Screaming. Sobbing. Metal scraping metal.  
Sitting up, all of these begin to process in my mind. Sand seeped between my fingers, and I was forced to squint against the strong sun. The sounds were dulled by the ringing in my ears, but as I turned around, it wasn't hard to see what had happened, bits of my memory flicking back.  
People were strewn across the beach, red seeping into the sand around them. The engine if the plane continued to spin, pulling debris into it, expelling the shredded bits out the back.  
Blinking, I tried to regain my composure. The world was blurred but coming into focus. My legs were numb but with aid if my hands, I managed to stand. I stretched slightly and didn't feel any form of pain, so I began to walk around, looking for someone to help. There was a louder than before scream and a thud from the engine. I turned and just caught a person being sucked into it, and I tore my eyes away.  
"You!" A man screamed and I turned, seeing a man I've never seen before pointing roughly in my direction. "I need your help." Blood covered him, some on his shirt which would imply his own injury. More blood resided on his hands, wrist, and forearms; someone else's.  
Nodding, I struggled over to him, unable to force myself through the sand at a pace faster than a awkward jog. He was bent over a man, shrapnel protruding from his chest, a thick layer of red covering him like a blanket. Swallowing, I collapsed next to him. The man who beckoned me passed me a towel. "Press that around the shrapnel, try to get him to stop bleeding." I nodded blankly and began to add pressure, clenching my jaw to hold back the vomit. I began to hum softly, trying to block it out.  
"You." He called out again and I looked for who he was talking to. For being a survivor of a plane crash, he was remarkably calm and in control. "Come over here and help her stop the bleeding." With that he stood up and left, going to check on other survivors. From what I saw, most of us on the beach were lucky. But there definitely were more on the plane than who was on the beach right now.  
Sand brushed up my body as the one directed moved over to help me. I turned to look at him as he fell to his knees to help me. I knew him from the plane.

Flashback

"Last call for boarding." I hiked my bag up on my shoulder and ran to the woman by the door.  
"I'm here." I let out a sigh of relief and smiled slightly. "Here's my ticket."  
She took it and swiped it, then passed it back. "Are you traveling with anyone today?"  
I gripped my ticket in my left hand, and strap of my carry on book bag in my right. "No ma'am." Then I have a nod and started through the door. "Have a nice day."  
Checking my ticket, I wove my way through the rows, trying to find the seat I would be in for the next fifteen hours until we landed in the states. I looked at the number on the seat, than on my ticket. With a nod, I pulled my bag off and placed it at my feet, then sat. A man was next to me, with an empty seat next to him and then a man in the one after that. The man next to me was around middle aged, with a dark complexion that made me assume he was foreign or his parents were. He had long dark hair that as curled fell just above his shoulder.  
The man to his left gave him a disgusted look that I wasn't sure he caught, then turned his head and shook it. "I had to sit next to the terrorist." He grumbled, loud enough that both myself and the other man heard.  
The man to my left tensed at the comment, but said anything. That took a lot of strength, but this man needed to be put into place. "Excuse me sir." I leaned forward so I could see the asshole past the man who had just fallen victim to racism. "While I understand you may be raised to be a jackass who doesn't realize that the world isn't ruled by the white man, the rest of us have. So, for the rest of the flight I would prefer if you don't utter another word, because I fear being a racist bastard who had his head shoved up his ass may be contagious to the other passengers." The man blinked slowly and I raised my left brow, asking him to challenge me. When he didn't, I nodded. "Thank you, and have a nice flight."  
Leaning back in my seat, I buckled myself in tightly and began sifting through my pack. When I sat up, book in hand, I saw the man next to me staring. "Was that out of line?" I quickly asked, realizing that having a girl of much younger age stick up for a grown man may be embarrassing or offensive.  
A smile crept across his face and he shook his head, gently shaking his curls. "Just nice to see that there are still some rational people in the world." His accent was gentle and almost soothing, sounding middle eastern.  
"Nicole." I stuck my hand out to him, which he gentle shook.  
"Sayid." He smiled and I tightened my seat belt once more. "Are you flying alone?"  
I twisted the paper back book in my hands. "Yup. Just me and my book. Fifteen hours. In a flying death trap." I sighed and tried to give me a weak smile, but knew it turned out more as a grimace.  
"You'll be fine. Flying is actually safer than driving."  
I let out a breath and nodded, clutching my book as we prepared to take off. "I don't drive either."  
He laughed softly and patted my clenched hands. "You'll be fine, I promise."

Present

"Nicole, he's gone." Sayid's hands surrounded mine, now caked in blood. The sun was beginning to set, and the man beneath my fingers stopped breathing ten minutes ago.  
I swallowed and looked up at him, sighing. "Are you alright, Sayid?" He looked alright, his flannel shirt torn but no blood seemed to be on him.  
"Fine. You, my dear, need to get checked out." His hand reached up and brushed my temple and I hissed, not realizing I was injured until then. I nodded absently and we both stood. Looking down at the body, I swallowed, and said a silent prayer for the unknown mans soul.  
Sayid led me towards the spot where a majority of the survivors had convened. A tent was already set up for what appeared to be the spot to tend to wounded. He led me inside and I sat on a rock, others who suffered superficial wounds like myself were also waiting.  
The man who asked me to stop the bleeding of the man walked over, a medical kit in hand. He crouched in front of me and gripped my chin, slowly tilting my head so that he could examine my wound. "My name's Jack." He pulled a rag out of the bag and began to wipe my jaw and cheek. He brushed it against my cut and I inhaled sharply.  
"Nicole." I looked down at my hands, skin tightening from the blood now drying. "He's dead." I peeked up at him, wanting to look at his reaction.  
He nodded and started to shift through the bag again. "I know." He pulled back with butterfly strips. "He was bleeding severely."  
I scrunched my brows and tried to process this new information. "W-why? Why did you leave me there to watch him die?"  
He smoothed the strip on my cut and wiped away any remaining blood. "I didn't want him to be alone." He gave me a soft look and then stood, walking off to another. I didn't see Sayid anywhere, so I stood and walked to the waters edge, dropping to my knees and hastily scrubbing the blood off my hands. Once that was complete, I stood and looked around. Most people were huddled together, a few trying to make fires or shelters.  
Nodding to myself, I thought through everything that had just happened and what I would be forced to do in the coming hours. First thing first would be to build a shelter, and then if I had enough time make a fire. I wouldn't be sleeping much tonight, so there would be plenty of time, and I would need the light.  
My hands were now clean, and my hair tie was still tightly around my wrist. I gathered my hair out of my face and tied it into a tight pony tail towards the top of my head. Once that was out of the way, I picked up a tarp discarded by the waters edge and dragged it towards the spot I dubbed my new camp site.  
Placing my tarp on the ground, I ventured towards the edge of the forest and gathered sticks long enough to make a suitable frame. Dragging them back to camp, I gripped the one firmly in my hand and forced it into the ground until I stood on its own.  
I repeated the action with the second piece before I head someone behind me. I spun quickly, suddenly paranoid of who it may be.  
"Whoa." The man held his hands up, showing me his palms in that calm down motion everyone does. "Just wanted to check on you. Pop in and say hello."  
The man was short, about my height. Probably in his twenties. His blonde hair fell just above his eyes and he had a cheeky grin that just made me want to smile. And his accident was refreshing.  
I smiled and stuck my hand out. "Nicole."  
He smirked and gripped my hand. "Charlie." He looked at the frame, then at me. "So... What is this going to be?"  
I tucked a stray strand of hair behind me ear and turned to it. "After a few additions, a pretty substantial tent."  
He smiled and planted his hands on his hips and looked at it with admiration. "I think it will work nicely." Then he turned his head to me. "How old are you?"  
I turned away from the tent and scanned the beach in the remaining light, trying to find any rope or string or anything to bind the tarp to the frame. "Fifteen."  
"Fifteen?" His voice rose an octave and I turned to look at him over my shoulder. "You built all this in the short time we've been here, and you're only fifteen?" I nodded and he tossed his hands in the air, defeated. "Bloody hell! I haven't done anything!"  
I smiled and laughed softly. "You see any rope?"  
He stepped forward so he was next to me, looking along the beach. Then he ran off down the beach towards something I didn't see. "Weird guy." I muttered to myself and picked up two sizable rocks, big enough to hold the tarp down where it meets the sand. Placing them next to the basic frame.  
Charlie returned, holding a length of rope in his hand. "Found some." He gave me the cheeky grin again that made me smile, looking like a little boy after you give him a cookie.  
"There, you are doing something." I took the rope and nodded. "Thank you, seriously."  
"You're very welcome."  
I pulled the tarp up and Charlie held it in place while I wrapped the rope around it. I repeated the action on the other frame, making sure to leave enough on each side to create a side walls. I then walked around back and pulled it tight, weighing the corners down with the rocks.  
Stepping back, I looked at it. Big enough to comfortably hold one person. Just need to find something to cover said person from the sand, but that could wait until tomorrow.  
"You two built this?" I turned and saw Sayid walking towards us, smiling at the creation.  
"Nah, it was all her." Charlie title his head toward me and I shrugged.  
"Really not that big of a deal." It was a basic structure, nothing too fancy. It was all that was needed, especially since it was only temporary.  
"No one else has managed to build one, and you made it in less time then the rest." He plucked the ropes and nodded his approval. "You'll be comfortable here."  
I shook my head. "No, I won't."  
"What do you mean? This place is fantastic!" Charlie was dumbstruck by what I said, and Sayid's expression showed the same.  
"Just follow me." I smiled and turned, walking down the beach. The sun was below the horizon now, the moon my source of light. Thankfully my eyes were adjusted by now an I was able to see where I was going.  
"Hi." I smiled down at the woman lounging in the sand. Her blonde hair was pulled away from her face, a black shirt taught over her extended stomach.  
"Hello..." Her accident was odd, clearly Australian. This far, other than Jack, I had yet to meet someone who sounded to be from America. Not quiet what I was expecting but it made sense based upon where we were flying from.  
"My name's Nicole."  
"Clare."  
"Well Clare." I crouched so I was next to her. "I was wondering if you would stay in the tent over there." I looked over my shoulder at it, and saw the shocked and confused looks of the two boys.  
"Why?"  
"Well you see, I come from a city where there aren't any stars. I think I'd like to star gaze tonight, and would hate for the place to go to waste." Her hand rubbed her stomach and she bit her lower lip.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Of course. Come on." I held out my hand and helped her to her feet. She walked towards it an the boys looked at me.  
"I was right." Sayid smirked.  
"What?" I scrunched my face at the comment.  
"You are one of the nicest people I will ever meet." He smiled and trudged off down the beach.  
"You got that right." Charlie smirked and bumped his shoulder to mine. "You want a star gazing partner?"  
"I would love one."


End file.
